Gem Fadling - What Does Your Soul Love?: Eight Questions That Reveal Gods Work in You

What Does Your Soul Love?: Eight Questions That Reveal Gods Work in You — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work

Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "What Does Your Soul Love?: Eight Questions That Reveal Gods Work in You" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.

Light

Font size:

↓

↑

Georgia Tahoma Arial Verdana

Reset

Interval:

↓

↑

Bookmark:

Make

1234567...42

WHAT DOES
YOUR
SOUL
LOVE
?

EIGHT QUESTIONS THAT
REVEAL GODS WORK IN YOU

GEM and ALAN FADLING

FROM GEM

To Fred Harlan Wheat (19121990) and
Helen Violet Miller Wheat (19281995)

Thank you, Mom, for being the first person to tell
me about God. You launched me into an incredible adventure.
Thank you, Dad, for blessing me with my name and for being the first
person to call out the mantle of leadership in my life.

FROM GEM AND ALAN

To Sean, Bryan, and Christopher

There are no words to describe how much we love each of you.
We could not be more proud of the men you have become.
May you learn early and deeply what it is your souls love.

CONTENTS

INVITATION

CHANGING FROM THE CENTER

T HIS IS A BOOK ABOUT CHANGE . We set out to write a book about transformation, but in everyday life, the two of us have very different responses to change. Alan resists change, tending to avoid it. He prefers to keep things the way they are; he likes predictability as a way of feeling secure. Gem embraces change, even seeks it out. She loves the variety and creativity of new experiences. But we both are hungry for the kind of change God invites us to.

We seek the sort of transformation that would make us a little more beautiful in kingdom ways. We both want the kind of change that is an answer to Your kingdom come, your will be done in me as it is in heaven.

SKIING OVER THE SURFACE

Alan grew up in Carmichael, California, a suburb of Sacramento, in a waterskiing family. If the weather allowed (and it usually did), youd find his family at a nearby lake or on the Sacramento River waterskiing themselves to the point of exhaustion. Alan would often ski for an hour or more as his dad drove them up the river or back. He loved the magic of gliding across the surface of the water and not sinking like he would have if he was standing still.

But sometimes the sinking that happens when were still is good, beautiful, and necessary. Were talking about the stillness and the sinking that need to happen when, for instance, we find ourselves skiing over the surface of our lives, when we let anxiety pull us along and we miss the depths, or when we get in a hurry and run past divine opportunities and appointments. If we would just stop occasionally and sink down, wed get in touch with the deeper, more significant, even eternal, realities that we want to shape our lives. Wed get in touch with the immeasurable depths of love, peace, and joy that are available to us right now even as, racing along on the surface of our lives, we seek those somewhere out there.

And we are hardly the only ones to long for those depths. Quaker missionary and educator Thomas Kelly (18931941) wrote, Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continually return. Kelly described this place as the Shekinah of the soul, the Presence in the midst.).

But too often, in the whirlwind of our thoughts and the rush of our activities, we skim along the surface of life and never experience these rich and life-giving depths. We dont tap into the reality of this Lifethe One who is life who has come to make himself at home in our inner being. This idea is one that the apostle Paul returned to again and again. It seems to be the simplest way of communicating his understanding of the life of the gospel: Christ in us; Christ in me. This is a transforming friendship.

WILLING TO GIVE UP

Early in our marriage, Alan was a pastor to college students in a large Southern California church. We were both in our twenties, we didnt have kids, and I (Gem) had energy to spare. So in addition to working full time in the corporate world, I partnered with Alan in ministry. We so loved working with that group of students.

One day, a few days prior to our college groups upcoming missions trip to Mexico, I was getting ready for my day. Out of nowhere a question bubbled up: If, while you are in Mexico, someone sees your camera and wants it, would you be willing to give it to them? Would you give up your camera? I had a fancy and expensive Canon A-1 camera that shot film, so I spent some time pondering this question. After thinking a bit I decided that I could indeed give it up. I was aware that the people we were going to serve had limited resources, so it seemed best to me to be generous.

I continued preparing for the day ahead, and soon another thought emerged: The camera is one thing, but would you be willing to give up Alan? At this point, I was a bit stunned; what does this meangive up Alan? I soon realized that I was being invited into a conversation with God. Just a few months prior, I had learned about and begun the practice of solitude and silence. I was learning how to listen to God in prayer and not just regale him with my monologue of requests. I knew I was in a dialogue at this point. I couldnt say a quick yes, because this was an extraordinarily serious question. It seemed to me to be an invitation to hold Alan loosely, to acknowledge that God was in charge of Alans life.

I went into my home office to work and for four hours I wrestled with this question in between typing. A couple of times, as it arose, I answered, I dont know.

Soon I was on a downhill slide into anxiety. I decided to call Alan at the church office to check in on him. In addition to his role as a pastor, he was in seminary at the time. He had a class that morning, but I thought he would have returned to his office by now. When he wasnt there, my worry increased. (This was back in the day of no cell phones and no Find My Friends app.)

The question returned: Will you give up Alan? Finally, I lifted my hands from my keyboard and decided to engage this question more fully. This may sound morbid and possibly melodramatic, but I let myself sink all the way down into the worst-case scenario of this question, just to try it on. I pictured in my mind what my life would be like without Alan. I let myself imagine ita twenty-six-year-old widow. It was horrible, but I knew that I could carry on with my life and that God would be with me and would care for Alan. I took some deep breaths and decided that I could say, Okay, I could give up Alan.

Fifteen minutes later, Alan called. Of course, I burst into tears and then explained to him, in detail, my entire morningthe question, the struggle, the resolution. He asked, How long ago did you say that you answered yes? I told him that it had been about fifteen minutes earlier. Well, said Alan, let me tell you what I was doing about fifteen minutes ago. He was on the freeway driving to church from seminary. Evidently the pace of both work and seminary had taken its toll. Alan momentarily fell asleep at the wheel. He woke up just in time to see that he was about to crash into a slow-moving dump truck. Fortunately, he swerved and made his way past with no harm.

We both imagined hearing the Twilight Zone theme and had a moment of being struck by the odd nature of the entire incident. I dont claim to understand exactly what was going on. I cant say if I hadnt said yes that Alan would have hit the truck; I dont think thats how God works. However, I believe God was asking me if I would dedicate Alan to God, let go of him and trust that God would care for him. God wanted Alans life, in all ways possible, and God wanted me to trust him completely. I had just given Alan completely over to God to do whatever he wanted to do in his life. And, after having been married now for more than three decades, Im still learning how that works.

Next page

1234567...42

Light

Font size:

↓

↑

Georgia Tahoma Arial Verdana

Reset

Interval:

↓

↑

Bookmark:

Make

Similar books «What Does Your Soul Love?: Eight Questions That Reveal Gods Work in You»

Look at similar books to What Does Your Soul Love?: Eight Questions That Reveal Gods Work in You. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.

Nancy Kane

Stages of the Soul: Gods Invitation to Greater Love

Gem Fadling

Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads

Katherine J. Butler

365 Questions for a Womans Soul: With Answers from Gods Heart

Alan Fadling

A Year of Slowing Down: Daily Devotions for Unhurried Living

Alan Fadling

An Unhurried Leader: The Lasting Fruit of Daily Influence

Barbara De Angelis

Soul Shifts: Transformative Wisdom for Creating a Life of Authentic Awakening, Emotional Freedom & Practical Spirituality

Alan Fadling

An Unhurried Life: Following Jesus Rhythms of Work and Rest

David Gandelman

The 7 Energies of the Soul: Awaken Your Inner Creator, Healer, Warrior, Lover, Artist, Explorer, and Master

Janet Conner

Soul Vows: Gathering the Presence of the Divine in You, Through You, and as You (Spiritual Affirmations, for Fans of Writing Down Your Soul)

Sykes

Blackbutterfly Soul Songs

Alice Fryling

Mirror for the Soul: A Christian Guide to the Enneagram

Jay Lombard

The Mind of God: Neuroscience, Faith, and a Search for the Soul

Discussion, reviews of the book What Does Your Soul Love?: Eight Questions That Reveal Gods Work in You and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.